German politicians and MPs have expressed concern over reports that Russia may have intercepted a conversation between high-ranking officers of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), in which they allegedly discussed the use of TAURUS cruise missiles on the Crimean bridge.
"If this story is confirmed, it will be a very problematic incident," said Konstantin von Notz, chairman of the Bundestag's committee for oversight of the intelligence services, in an interview.
"The question arises whether this is an isolated incident or a structural security problem," the Green MP added. – "I expect all the circumstances to be clarified immediately.
In his turn, the CDU/CSU defence expert Roderich Kiesewetter warned of the possibility of publishing other intercepted conversations.
"Probably, several more conversations were listened to, and perhaps at a later date they will be disclosed in the interests of Russia," Kiesewetter said. According to him, Russia has published the content of the conversation for a specific purpose at the moment, namely "to prevent Germany from supplying TAURUS".
On the morning of 1 March, the editor of the Russian propaganda TV channel RT, Margarita Simonyan, reported that she had allegedly received a 40-minute audio recording of "high-ranking Bundeswehr officers" discussing possible strikes on the Crimean bridge using TAURUS missiles.
In support of these words, Simonyan published a transcript of the conversation, which, according to her, took place on 19 February 2024, as well as the audio recording of the conversation, the participants of which communicate with each other in German. The Russian Foreign Ministry then demanded an explanation from the German government.
The German Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation into whether internal conversations in the Air Force could have been intercepted.
Background. As reported, Britain is putting pressure on Germany over Taurus missiles for Ukraine, but Scholz is not giving in. He said he would not accept any decision that could involve German soldiers in the war in Ukraine.